How to Train to Be an SEO Translator

Specialising as an SEO translator is a great way for translators to adapt to the digital age.

SEO translation is in increasing demand among translation clients in this digital age. So, how can you train to become an SEO translator?

After reading Lucy’s article How SEO Translators Can Help You Get More Website Traffic, I wanted to write this short article to offer guidance to translators wishing to specialise in search engine optimization. Below, I’ll tell you about the training path I followed to become an SEO translator.

1. Marketing training

Marketing translation has always been one of my favourite areas to work in. Since starting my career as a freelance translator 10 years ago, I’ve done continual training in marketing. In part, to help me run my freelance translation business. For me, this training mostly consists of reading books and blogs on a periodic basis.

If I see a course, video or online training session that looks interesting to me, then I attend. I also follow numerous podcasts from the marketing world. It’s really helpful to listen to successful marketing professionals and pick up hints from them. Find out how to use podcasts.

2. Copywriting training

Training as a copywriter is an essential part of being an SEO translator. Search engine optimization is only part of the translation you’re going to produce. You have to understand the different types of marketing texts and the techniques for writing them. That way, you can identify what the source writer is doing, and try to reproduce it. Or find an equivalent technique in the translation. An interesting part of marketing writing is that you can break rules. That’s something that doesn’t come easy to translators, who tend to be real sticklers for language discipline.

The course I followed (CMP copywriting course) covered different types of copywriting. It included a couple of modules on SEO copywriting, which were interesting. Lucy and I took the course together, and we did feedback for each other before we sent it to the tutor for grading. We also bought books and found articles online, to supplement the manuals.

It was great to do the course together because it gave us chance to discuss everything we’d read. Reading widely allowed us to explore different approaches and opinions. For instance, it was interesting to get different expert perspectives on SEO copywriting, which weren’t always the same.

3. SEO training

You can start by learning the basics of SEO and how to write for the web. That way you can use SEO copywriting techniques when you translate. That may be all you need. Perhaps all the client wants is for you to translate the text while being mindful of their already-identified keywords.

The next step in your SEO training is to dig more deeply into the topic, which can get very technical. There are numerous facets to SEO, from making sure site design is optimised during website development, to learning how to identify keywords and implement an SEO strategy. There’s a lot of ongoing monitoring involved: gathering data, analysing it and then designing and implementing new strategies. It’s a never-ending circular process.

Topics I’ve studied include learning how to use Google Analytics, Google Adwords and Google Tag Manager. As an SEO translator, you don’t necessarily need to do any of this. But having a global understanding of what is involved in SEO will help you do your job better. You can also implement everything you learn in your own translation business.

My favourite source of knowledge for training on SEO and digital marketing is Lynda.com.

And there you have the triangle that forms the basis of being an SEO translator. This of course assumes you’re already qualified translator. If you’re not, you may like to check out my Advanced Spanish-to-English translation course with DipTrans preparation, with a free level test and money-back satisfaction guarantee. Email me for more information or visit the course page.